Beliefs & Partnerships

Welcome.

If you're looking in on us and wondering 'what sort of churches' we are, we hope this page is useful for you.

We think that coming along, joining in and getting to know us is the best way to get a feel for who we are! But we understand that our beliefs and who we partner with are important questions, especially for those looking in.
So we hope this page helps. If you have some questions or comments, please do get in touch.

Statement of faith.

As a family of churches, we have not opted to create our own statement of faith.

But with billions of our brothers and sisters across the globe and throughout history, we affirm the Apostles Creed.
And with hundreds of churches around the UK we subscribe to this statement from the Evangelical Alliance.

Partnerships.

As Churchcentral churches, we joyfully accept that we can do very little by ourselves. But joined with others, God can use us mightily!

We don't want to 'go off on our own' and instead, we gladly partner with other churches and organisations to see the work of God flourish in Birmingham, the UK and abroad.

Catalyst

Our family of churches
Catalyst is the global movement of churches that we belong to. We tend to shy away from language like 'denomination', but if you're asking that question, this is the closest answer we can give! It's a highly relational network that connect regularly in smaller hubs, and bi-annually as a whole movement. We connect for accountability, relationship and equipping in fulfilling the mission of Jesus. Catalyst itself is part of Newfrontiers.

2020 Birmingham

Church planting in Birmingham
Jonathan Bell - who leads the team at Churchcentral - helped to found and continues to bring leadership to this church-planting organisation.

We resource, train and support church planters from a range of denominations and backgrounds, to see the body of multiply churches in Birmingham.

Time4Change

Pursuing Racial Unity, Equality and Justice
Time4Change is a movement of pastors, leaders and churches in Birmingham who pursue racial equality in the church, and racial justice in the city.

Jonathan has been part of the core group meeting to pray, learn and lead on these matters, since it began in 2020.

Newfrontiers

Our wider global family
Newfrontiers is a global movement of churches, founded in the south of England by Terry Virgo. Having grown and multiplied, it now exists in several 'spheres' or smaller networks of churches. One of these spheres is 'Catalyst', of which we are a part. Books like 'A People Prepared' and 'The Spirit-Filled Church' by Terry will give a good sense of our background, our values and our beliefs about the Church.

City to City UK

Church planting in the UK
City to City UK is a movement we've partnered with in recent years. Begun by Tim Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church New York City, it's all about planting churches in the most influential cities in the UK. Our role in it grew from what God has done through 2020 Birmingham, and if it helps to understand it, you could say City to City UK is like a nationwide version of 2020 Birmingham. 

City to City Europe

Creating city networks across Europe
You guessed it! This is a network of leaders across the continent seeking to replicate church-planting movements in cities.
Jonathan Bell, Tim Brown and others have been part of City to City European conferences since 2019, contributing to training and developing leaders from many nations. What God has done here through 2020Birmingham is a model we want to share.

Resources around our values.

Read: The Spirit-Filled Church


Terry Virgo - who founded our wider family of churches Newfrontiers - wrote this book to outline a vision for local churches that are full of the Holy Spirit. It's an inspiring read for any Christian but is also a brilliant way of learning some of our values around church.

Read: Together For The City


This book tells the story of 2020Birmingham, the collaborative church-planting network Jonathan helps lead. It's written by John James and Neil Powell, two friends of the church, and is an inspiring story of what's possible when Christians put differences aside and come together for the sake of a city.

Listen: Podcasts featuring the Churchcentral team


These episodes give extended reflections on key values, recorded with some of our leadership team.

Planting Into Cities
Jonathan Bell
Multiply Conference 2020
The Churchcentral Story
Jonathan Bell
Multiply Church Planting Podcast
Art, Beauty & The Church
Jonny Mellor
New Ground Life & Leadership Podcast

Get in touch.

If you have questions or want to talk about anything here, just get in touch.